Seating Furniture

ABSTRACT

The seating furniture ( 1 ) configures a bench including two side frame members ( 2   a,    2   b ), each having two legs ( 3 ) connected to a seat-supporting cross member ( 4 ) from which a backrest-supporting post ( 6 ) upwardly extend. Seat slats ( 16 ) are connected to the cross members ( 4 ) and backrest slats connected to the posts ( 6 ). The seat slats ( 16 ) are secured to first planar profiles ( 17 ) forming a seat assembly ( 5 ) which is secured to the cross members ( 4 ) by first mounting screws inserted in through holes of the cross member ( 4 ), and the backrest slats are secured at their ends to second planar profiles forming a backrest assembly which is secured to the posts ( 6 ) by second mounting screws inserted in through holes of the posts.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention relates to a seating furniture,particularly to a single-seater or multi-seater seating furniture, suchas a bench, envisaged for public areas.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Pieces of seating furniture of the type called a bench, usuallyinstalled in parks, gardens, lobbies and in a plurality of public placesand even in domestic settings, are well known. Said benches are usuallyformed by two end side frame members linked to one another by a surfaceforming a seat assembly and another surface forming a backrest assembly.The side frame members can optionally include respective support membersfor corresponding arms of the same user (in the case of a single-seaterbench) or of users sitting at respective ends (in the case of amulti-seater bench).

Document ES 1046700 U describes a street furniture seat comprising sideframe members made of cast iron and seating and backrest surfaces formedby wooden slats connected at their ends to said side frame members. Adrawback of this street furniture seat is that the side frame membersinclude a plurality of projecting appendages where said wooden slats aresupported, which wooden slats are provided for such purpose withcorresponding end cuts and recesses fitting with said projectingappendages, making the seat construction significantly complex.

Spanish industrial design I 0135463 shows a bench which also has twomutually facing side frame members made of cast iron which both supporta seat assembly and a backrest assembly formed by wooden slats.

Document GB 729143 discloses an article of furniture such as a chair, asettee or a bench, comprising two side frame members, each of themformed by an upper curved section and a lower curved section which crossand are fastened to one another by means of respective mating notchesforming a side frame member. The seat assembly and the backrest assemblyare formed as a single unit by a plurality of slats secured at theirends to the upper curved section of the frame member.

A drawback of these benches of the prior art is that their packaging andcorresponding transport to a ship-to party is expensive and complicateddue to their considerable volume and the virtual impossibility ofstacking them on top of one another and gaining dead spaces for thusreducing said volume. This drawback is intensified if the benches haveconsiderable length. If the benches are packaged and transported in adismantled state, the large number and variety of parts mean that thesubsequent mounting by the ship-to party is difficult, expensive andprone to errors.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to overcome the aforementionedand other drawbacks by providing a seating furniture generally forming asingle-seater or multi-seater bench, and comprising a pair of side framemembers, each of which includes a pair of legs connected at their upperends to a seat-supporting cross member from which there extend upwards abackrest-supporting post, a plurality of seat slats connected at theirends to said seat-supporting cross members, and a plurality of backrestslats connected at their ends to said backrest-supporting posts.

The seating furniture of the present invention is characterized in thatsaid plurality of seat slats are secured at their ends to firsttransverse planar profiles such that together they form a seat assembly,and this seat assembly is secured to the seat-supporting cross membersby means of first mounting screws inserted in cross member through holesformed in each of the seat-supporting cross members. Similarly, theplurality of backrest slats are secured at their ends to secondtransverse planar profiles such that together they form a backrestassembly and this backrest assembly is secured to thebackrest-supporting posts by means of second mounting screws inserted inpost through holes formed in each of the backrest-supporting posts.

With this construction, the seating furniture can be packaged andtransported in a partially mounted state formed by a few separate parts,namely: the two side frame members, the two seat and backrestassemblies, and eight screws that are preferably all identical,including four first mounting screws and four second mounting screws.Taking into account that both the side frame members and the seat andbackrest assemblies are essentially planar, packaging the seatingfurniture in the partially mounted state with these components stackedon one another takes up significantly less space than packaging theseating furniture in a fully mounted state.

Furthermore, the ship-to party receiving the seating furniture in saidpartially mounted state can quickly and easily mount the received partswithout the risk of making mistakes. It must be taken into account thatthe seat slats and the backrest slats are generally not all identical,whereby they likely would be installed in wrong positions if they wereseparated from one another, and furthermore a total number of screwsseveral times greater than eight would be necessary.

The side frame members are preferably made of cast iron, the seat slatsand the backrest slats are made of wood, and the first and second planarprofiles are made of iron, although other materials are possible.

In a preferred embodiment, there is a first recess on an upper face ofeach of the seat-supporting cross members of the side frame members inwhich one of said first planar profiles of said seat assembly iscoupled, and there is a second recess on a front face of each of saidbackrest-supporting posts of the side frame members in which one of saidsecond planar profiles of said backrest assembly is coupled.

The mentioned first recess is elongated and preferably takes up theentire width of the corresponding seat-supporting cross member of theside frame member, whereas said second recess is an elongated slottaking up only an intermediate region of the width of the correspondingbackrest-supporting post of the side frame member. The thickness of theplanar profiles is thus taken in by the recesses and the rear face ofthe seating and backrest slats is substantially flush with the upperface of the cross members and the front face of the posts. The secondplanar profiles of the backrest assembly are furthermore concealed inthe second slot-shaped recesses.

The first and second mounting screws are inserted in the mentioned crossmember and post through holes from the lower side of the seat-supportingcross members and from the back side of the backrest-supporting posts,respectively, and the first and second planar profiles have respectivethrough holes in which the first and second mounting screws areadditionally inserted, which first and second mounting screws arefinally screwed into nuts inserted in the corresponding seat slats andbackrest slats.

The first and second planar profiles are secured to the seat slats andto the backrest slats, respectively, by means of securing screwsinserted in corresponding securing through holes formed in the first andsecond planar profiles and screwed directly into the wood or othermaterial of the corresponding seat slats and backrest slats.

In a particular embodiment, each of the side frame members furthercomprises an armrest member connected to the backrest-supporting postbelow the backrest assembly. In such case, the backrest includes acomplementary backrest slat which is secured at its ends to thebackrest-supporting posts below said armrest members, for example bymeans of third screws inserted in complementary through holes formed inthe backrest-supporting posts and screwed into nuts inserted in thecomplementary backrest slat. Nevertheless, the seating furniture of thepresent invention contemplates the possibility of side frame memberswithout armrest members.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and other features and advantages will become more evidentbased on the following detailed description of an embodiment inreference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a side frame member that is part of aseating furniture according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view of a seat assembly and a backrestassembly that are part of the seating furniture of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating the mounting of said seatassembly in the side frame members;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of detail IV of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a partial perspective view of a securing element for securinga slat that is part of the backrest assembly;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating the mounting of the backrestassembly in the side frame members;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of detail VII of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view illustrating the securing of acomplementary slat of the backrest in the side frame members; and

FIG. 9 is an enlarged view of detail IX of FIG. 8.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 shows a side frame member 2 a for a seating furniture 1 in theform of a bench according to an embodiment of the present invention. Theside frame member 2 a is made of cast iron and comprises two legs 3connected at their upper ends to a seat-supporting cross member 4 and abackrest-supporting post 6 extending upwards from a back end of saidseat-supporting cross member 4.

Conventionally said backrest-supporting post 6 is considerably inclinedbackwards.

On an upper face of the seat-supporting cross member 4 there is a firstrecess 9 taking up the entire width of the seat-supporting cross member4. In said first recess 9 there are cross member through holes 11spanning the seat-supporting cross member 4, and the function of whichwill be explained below.

On a front face of the backrest-supporting post 6 there is a secondrecess 12 in the form of a slot taking up only an intermediate region ofthe width of the backrest-supporting post 6. In this second recess 12there are post through holes 13 spanning the backrest-supporting post 6,and the function of which will also be explained below.

The side frame member 2 a further comprises an armrest member 15connected to the backrest-supporting post 6 below the second recess 12,and in a portion of the backrest-supporting post 6 located below saidarmrest member 15 there is a complementary through hole 14 spanning thebackrest-supporting post 6, and the function of which will also beexplained below. In the illustrated embodiment, a front end of thearmrest member 15 is connected to the front end of the seat-supportingcross member 4 by a connecting member. This armrest member 15 isoptional.

FIG. 2 shows a seat assembly 5 and a backrest assembly 7. The mentionedseat assembly 5 comprises a plurality of seat slats 16 juxtaposed andparallel to one another, and first transverse planar profiles 17 thatare transverse to said seat slats 16 and secured thereto by means ofsecuring screws (not shown) inserted in corresponding securing throughholes 28 formed in the first planar profiles 17 and screwed in blindsecuring holes 30 (FIG. 5) formed in the corresponding seat slats 16.

The seat assembly 5 includes two of said first planar profiles 17secured near the ends of the seat slats 16, and optionally one or morefirst auxiliary planar profiles 17 a in intermediate positions if thelength of the seating furniture calls for it. Each first planar profile17 furthermore has two mounting through holes 10 aligned withcorresponding nuts 22 previously inserted in the seat slats 16 (FIG. 5).Similarly, the mentioned backrest assembly 7 comprises a plurality ofbackrest slats 23 juxtaposed and parallel to one another, and secondtransverse planar profiles 24 that are transverse to said backrest slats23 and secured thereto by means of securing screws (not shown) insertedin corresponding securing through holes 29 formed in the second planarprofiles 24 and screwed in blind securing holes 30 (FIG. 5) formed inthe corresponding backrest slats 23. The backrest assembly 7 includestwo of said second planar profiles 24 secured near the ends of thebackrest slats 23, and optionally one or more second auxiliary planarprofiles 24 a in intermediate positions if the length of the seatingfurniture calls for it. Each second planar profile 24 furthermore hastwo mounting through holes 27 aligned with corresponding nuts 22previously inserted in the backrest slats 23 (FIG. 5).

The seat slats 16 and the backrest slats 23 are preferably made of wood,and the first and second planar profiles 17, 24 are preferably made ofiron. The securing through holes 28, 29 of the first and second planarprofiles 17, 24 have a countersink in the top part to house the heads ofthe securing screws without said heads projecting from same.

The seating furniture 1 of the present invention comprises two sideframe members 2 a, 2 b identical to the side frame member 2 a describedabove in relation to FIG. 1, a seat assembly 5 and a backrest assembly 7like those described above in relation to FIG. 2, and screwing elementsfor mounting. The two side frame members 2 a, 2 b, the seat assembly 5and the backrest assembly 7 have a substantially planar configurationthat allows them to be stacked, packaged, stored and transported suchthat they take up significantly less space than what the fully mountedseating furniture takes up. The mentioned components of the seatingfurniture 1 can be easily mounted by a ship-to party as explained belowin relation to FIGS. 3 to 9.

FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate the mounting of the seat assembly 5 on the twoside frame members 2 a, 2 b. To that end, the two side frame members 2a, 2 b are arranged such that they are separated from one another by adistance that is in accordance with the positions of the first planarprofiles 17 in the seat assembly 5, and the seat assembly 5 is thencoupled to the seat-supporting cross members 4 taking into account thatthe first planar profiles 17 fit in the first recesses 9 formed in theseat-supporting cross members 4 of the side frame members 2 a, 2 b.

Then from a lower side of the seat-supporting cross members 4 firstmounting screws 18 are inserted in the cross member through holes 11 ofthe seat-supporting cross member 4, are passed through the mentionedmounting through holes 10 of the first planar profiles 17 of the seatassembly 5 and finally are screwed into said nuts 22 inserted in thecorresponding seat slats 16.

FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate the mounting of the backrest assembly 7 in thetwo side frame members 2 a, 2 b where the seat assembly 5 was previouslymounted. To that end, the backrest assembly 7 is coupled to thebackrest-supporting posts 6 taking into account that the second planarprofiles 24 fit in the second recesses 12 formed in thebackrest-supporting posts 6 of the side frame members 2 a, 2 b. Thenfrom a back side of the backrest-supporting posts 6 second mountingscrews 26 are inserted in the post through holes 13 of thebackrest-supporting post 6, are passed through the mentioned mountingthrough holes 27 of the second planar profiles 24 of the backrestassembly 7 and finally are screwed into the nuts 22 inserted in thecorresponding backrest slats 23.

The fact that the heads of the securing screws are housed in thecountersinks formed in the top parts of the securing through holes 28,29 of the first and second planar profiles 17, 24 allows correctlycoupling the first and second planar profiles 17, 24 in theircorresponding first and second recesses 9, 12. FIGS. 8 and 9 illustratethe mounting of a complementary backrest slat 25 preferably made of woodon the two side frame members 2 a, 2 b where the seat assembly 5 and thebackrest assembly 7 were previously mounted. Due to the existence of thearmrest members 15, the backrest of the seating furniture includes, inaddition to the backrest assembly 7, the mentioned complementarybackrest slat 25, the opposite ends of which are located between thearmrest members 15 and the seat-supporting cross members 4.

To that end, opposite ends of the complementary backrest slat 25 arecoupled to the portions of the backrest-supporting posts 6 that arelocated below the armrest members 15 and are secured in place by meansof third mounting screws 19 that are inserted from the back side of thebackrest-supporting posts 6 through the mentioned complementary holes 14of the backrest-supporting posts 6 and are screwed into nuts inserted inthe complementary backrest slat 25, similar to the nut 22 shown in FIG.5.

Given that the armrest members 15 are optional, if the side framemembers 2 a, 2 b did not have them, all the backrest slats could beintegrated in the backrest assembly and connected by the correspondingsecond planar profiles, and the second slot-shaped recesses formed inthe backrest-supporting posts would be sized accordingly.

It is understood that the mounting order can be changed in relation tothat described above in relation to FIGS. 3 to 9.

The characteristic construction of the seating furniture of the presentinvention allows quickly and easily mounting the partially mountedcomponents forming it and prevents any doubt or confusion while mountingthe seating furniture with respect to the position and order of placingthe seat slats 16, backrest slats 23 and complementary backrest slat 25because they are not all equal.

In view of the attached drawings it can be seen that the side framemembers 2 a, 2 b, the seat assembly 5 and backrest assembly 7 have anessentially planar volume, which makes it easier to package andtransport them. This is also aided by the lack of appendages andprojecting parts in the components, as occurs with other seatingfurniture or benches of the prior state.

A person skilled in the art could introduce changes and modifications inthe embodiment that has been described and shown without departing fromthe scope of the invention as it is defined in the attached claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A seating furniture comprising a pair of sideframe members, each including a pair of legs connected at their upperends to a seat-supporting cross member from which a backrest-supportingpost upwardly extends, a plurality of seat slats connected at their endsto said seat-supporting cross members, and a plurality of backrest slatsconnected at their ends to said backrest-supporting posts, wherein saidplurality of seat slats are secured at their ends to first transverseplanar profiles forming a seat assembly which is secured to theseat-supporting cross members by means of first mounting screws insertedin cross member through holes formed in each of the seat-supportingcross members, and said plurality of backrest slats are secured at theirends to second transverse planar profiles forming a backrest assemblywhich is secured to the backrest-supporting posts by means of secondmounting screws inserted in post through holes formed in each of thebackrest-supporting posts.
 2. The seating furniture according to claim1, wherein a first recess is formed in an upper face of each of theseat-supporting cross members of the side frame members in which one ofsaid first planar profiles of said seat assembly is coupled, and asecond recess is formed in a front face of each of saidbackrest-supporting posts of the side frame members in which one of saidsecond planar profiles of said backrest assembly is coupled.
 3. Theseating furniture according to claim 2, wherein said first recess iselongated and takes up the entire width of the correspondingseat-supporting cross member of the side frame member.
 4. The seatingfurniture according to claim 2, wherein said second recess is anelongated slot taking up only an intermediate region of the width of thecorresponding backrest-supporting post of the side frame member.
 5. Theseating furniture according to claim 3, wherein said first mountingscrews are furthermore inserted in mounting through holes formed in eachof the first planar profiles of the seat assembly and screwed into nutsinserted in the seat slats.
 6. The seating furniture according to claim4, wherein said second mounting screws are furthermore inserted inmounting through holes formed in each of the second planar profiles ofthe backrest assembly and screwed into nuts inserted in the backrestslats.
 7. The seating furniture according to claim 1, wherein each ofthe side frame members further comprises an armrest member connected tothe backrest-supporting post below the backrest assembly, and acomplementary backrest slat is secured at its ends to thebackrest-supporting posts below said armrest members.
 8. The seatingfurniture according to claim 7, wherein said complementary backrest slatis secured to the backrest-supporting posts by means of third screwsinserted through third holes formed in the backrest-supporting posts andscrewed into nuts inserted in the complementary backrest slat.
 9. Theseating furniture according to claim 1, wherein said side frame membersare made of cast iron, said seat slats and said backrest slats are madeof wood, and said first and second planar profiles are made of iron. 10.The seating furniture according to claim 9, wherein the first and secondplanar profiles are secured to the seat slats and to the backrest slats,respectively, by means of securing screws inserted in correspondingsecuring through holes formed in the first and second planar profilesand screwed in the corresponding seat slats and backrest slats.
 11. Theseating furniture according to claim 1, wherein the side frame members,the seat assembly and the backrest assembly have a substantially planarconfiguration and are stackable, taking up significantly less space thanwhat the fully mounted seating furniture takes up.